Sprinkler heads with rotatable pop-up nozzles propelled by water pressure are presently in widespread use. It is an objective of the present invention to provide simple means for adjusting the arc of movement of the nozzle, either to increase or decrease the sector covered by the sprinkler.
The sprinkler to be described is similar to the mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,118 which issued Mar. 17, 1987, and which is assigned to the present Assignee. However, it will be evident as the description proceeds that the invention is not limited to such a sprinkler.
Like the sprinkler described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,118, the sprinkler of the present invention includes a pop-up assembly having a nozzle at its upper end which is caused to rise up out of the housing by inlet water pressure. The nozzle is then turned back and forth through a pre-set arc to irrigate a sector of land of a particular size.
In accordance with the invention, a spring-loaded screw is provided in the upper end of the pop-up assembly which, when depressed, engages gear teeth on outer and lower tubular risers which make up the poppet assembly. Then, when the screw is turned, the relative angular positions of the risers are changed to adjust the arc of travel of the nozzle.